Esports kicks off 2020 with something a bit different from the usual events, as Rocket League takes center stage with the Rocket League Championship Series competitive circuit.
If you’ve never heard of the game, don’t worry – it’s very straightforward and easy on the eye. Rocket League is essentially a 3-on-3 soccer game, except competitors control rocket-powered cars instead of players, and the soccer balls are massive. Still, all the teams have to do is score more goals than their opponents to win ... while flying around a pitch in their rocket cars, that is.
When it comes to this event specifically, it’s one of many tournaments that are part of the competitive circuit and sees players compete weekly to gain points toward championship qualification. The Grid features a similar format to most esports events, and we’ll break that down below and take a look at the competitors as well.
Who’s Playing at The Grid Week 3 EU?
The top 16 Rocket League teams in Europe are battling it out at The Grid, having been predetermined by the Fall 2020 edition of the event, as well as a prior qualification tournament.
Current Rocket League Europe Major champion Team BDS headlines the event, having won the region’s most prestigious event back in October. They’re joined by other household names like Vitality, Galaxy Racer and Endpoint, as well as up-and-comers like Guild and Singularity.
The teams are first set to battle it out in four round-robin groups. However, unlike in other games, no one is eliminated, as these matches simply decide the seeding for the playoffs.
Things do get slightly different in the playoffs, as all 16 teams compete in a single-elimination bracket. That means just one loss means elimination, so each match has everything on the line.
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Team BDS | +425 |
| Renault Vitality | +600 |
| Giants Gaming | +700 |
| Top Blokes | +800 |
| Galaxy Racer | +900 |
| Endpoint | +1000 |
| Guild Esports | +1000 |
| Dignitas | +1100 |
| Redemption | +1200 |
| Team Singularity | +1300 |
| Oxygen Esports | +1500 |
| Team Liquid | +1500 |
| Fadeaway | +1700 |
| Triple Trouble | +3300 |
| Rix.GG | +4000 |
| Wolves Esports | +5000 |
Odds as of December 29 at Sportsbook
The Grid’s Unpredictability
If you plan to wager on The Grid, it’s vital to know how unpredictable the event can be. You’d expect the favorites, European champion BDS, to dominate every week, however, we’ve seen anything but that.
The first two weeks of The Grid’s winter season have seen nearly entirely different results. In Week 1, Singularity tied in last place and Top Blokes got the win, then in Week 2, Singularity was the champion while Top Blokes finished dead last. In the meantime, favored BDS crashed out tied at eight in both weeks.
It would seem just about anyone can win and maybe betting on the favorite is riskier than it seems.
Is Team BDS Still Europe’s best?
Despite winning the European Major and cementing their place as Europe’s brightest, Team BDS has been struggling so far in The Grid.
Two disappointing eighth-place finishes leave some question marks around the team, as precious championship qualification points are being squandered. With so many competitions in the Rocket League season, it’s impossible to win them all. However, not even challenging for the top spots is very unexpected from this squad.
BDS is definitely in need of a win very soon, so it’ll be interesting to see how they line up coming into the next few Grid events.
